Improved development of mouse and human embryos using a tilting embryo culture system

Matsuura, Koji; Hayashi, Nobuyoshi; Kuroda, Yuka; Takiue, Chisato; Hirata, Rei; Takenami, Mami; Aoi, Yoko; Yoshioka, Nanako; Habara, Toshihiro; Mukaida, Tetsunori; Naruse, Keiji

doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2009.12.002

« Previous Next »Reproductive BioMedicine Online
Volume 20, Issue 3 , Pages 358-364, March 2010

Improved development of mouse and human embryos using a tilting embryo culture system

Koji Matsuura
- Cardiovascular Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
- Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
Nobuyoshi Hayashi
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Yuka Kuroda
- Cardiovascular Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
- Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
Chisato Takiue
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Rei Hirata
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Mami Takenami
- Cardiovascular Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
Yoko Aoi
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Nanako Yoshioka
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Toshihiro Habara
- Okayama Couples Clinic, Okayama, Japan
Tetsunori Mukaida
- Hiroshima HART Clinic, Hiroshima, Japan
Keiji Naruse
- Cardiovascular Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
- Corresponding author.

Received 16 May 2009; received in revised form 8 June 2009; accepted 11 November 2009. published online 21 January 2010.

Declaration: Keiji Narusee launched the bio-venture company, Strex Inc., in 2003 and serves as a Chief Scientific Officer. The other authors report no financial or commercial conflicts of interest.

Abstract

Mammalian embryos experience not only hormonal but also mechanical stimuli, such as shear stress, compression and friction force in the Fallopian tube before nidation. In order to apply mechanical stimuli to embryos in a conventional IVF culture system, the tilting embryo culture system (TECS) was developed. The observed embryo images from the TECS suggest that the velocities and shear stresses of TECS embryos are similar to those experienced in the oviduct. Use of TECS enhanced the development rate to the blastocyst stage and significantly increased the cell number of mouse blastocysts (P<0.05). Although not statistically significant, human thawed embryos showed slight improvement in development to the blastocyst stage following culture in TECS compared with static controls. Rates of blastocyst formation following culture in TECS were significantly improved in low-quality embryos and those embryos cultured under suboptimal conditions (P<0.05). The TECS is proposed as a promising approach to improve embryo development and blastocyst formation by exposing embryos to mechanical stimuli similar to those in the Fallopian tube.

Keywords: blastocyst, embryo development, mechanical stimuli, shear stress, tilting embryo culture system

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Dr Keiji Naruse graduated from Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1988 (MD) and received his PhD in medicine from Nagoya University in 1992. He was an associate professor at Nagoya University from 1999 to 2005 and is currently a chairman and professor of Cardiovascular Physiology at Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine. He was a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School from 1998 to 2001. He has been working in the fields of mechanobiology of circulation, reproduction, and sensory systems.